Background

In 2019, Advance Auto Parts acquired the classic DieHard battery brand and needed to reignite the passion consumers felt for the brand in order to further differentiate itself as the category leader.

Situation

Motorists typically only pay attention to car batteries when they need to be replaced. Knowing this, Advance Auto Parts needed something explosive to gain American’s interest (and excite them!) regarding the recently acquired, exclusive DieHard battery brand. So, Advance created an epic, Hollywood-style 2-minute commercial, pairing the DieHard battery brand with the "Die Hard" film franchise featuring a brand-new, authentic "Die Hard" storyline co-starring the battery alongside actor Bruce Willis, who reprised his iconic role as Detective John McClane (for the first time ever in a commercial).

Brief

Elevate the launch of the commercial into a must-see cultural moment.

Objectives

Drive intrigue, speculation and anticipation for the commercial throughout social media ahead of its launch.

Inspired by a combination of Hollywood's method for launching a blockbuster film and every marketer's worst nightmare – a premature leak via social media – we leveraged an unbranded 15-second teaser trailer, a clever hashtag "#DieHardIsBack 10.18.20," and some very credible social influencers to tease America into believing a long-anticipated sixth "Die Hard" film was about to be announced during FOX's “NFL Game of The Week” on Sunday, October 18.

Following 24 hours of anticipation – and global hysteria – the 2-minute commercial would air nationally, and our cast of influencers would share it with their fans, letting them in on the ruse.

Teasing America into believing a new “Die Hard” film was dropping required an integrated influencer strategy to intrigue a broad audience across Twitter and Instagram.

Who would be perceived as more credible in knowing if their dad, Bruce Willis, was about to star in sixth “Die Hard” film than his family? So, we tapped his daughters Rumer, Scout and Tallulah to “leak” the 15-second unbranded teaser trailer, confident that their followers, including many Hollywood A-listers with large followings, AND mainstream media, would repost.

We went Hollywood ourselves, getting John McClane’s greatest fictional fan character, Detective Jake Peralta, played by Andy Samberg on the Emmy-winning sitcom “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” and his uber-famous comedy trio “The Lonely Island,” to post the teaser trailer and custom content for their millions of engaged fans.

Lastly, we had NFL-related influencers fuel the rumor, queueing millions of excited fans – for the commercial’s debut during the game.

A LEAK FROM INSIDE (Saturday afternoon)

Our news started with a rumor – and a 15-second teaser video – leaked by Bruce Willis’ inner circle ... his daughters

DIE HARD’S BIGGEST FICTIONAL FAN (Saturday afternoon)

Detective Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) of the hit TV show “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and his uber-famous comedy trio “The Lonely Island” spread the rumor to their social audience.

NFL INSIDER ‘BREAKING NEWS’ (Sunday morning)

Like he would “break” an important player injury, NFL insider Jay Glazer “reports” the #DieHardIsBack rumor as NFL fans are prepping for the day’s action.

EMMITT ‘RUSHES’ TO SHARE THE NEWS (Sunday morning)

Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith reacts to Glazer’s report and shares the news.

NFL ON FOX CREW BUILDS HYPE (Sunday pre-game)

“NFL on FOX” and Packers-Bucs on-air talent stoke the buzz giving America more reason to tune in to the marquee game later in the day.

This type of influencer campaign was new territory for Advance Auto Parts. No hard KPI’s were set when it came to the response regarding awareness and engagement. It was a bit of a bet … and the brand won big, including an increase in net sales of more than 15 percent. Influencer activity seeding rumors of the film drove over 3.5 million organic social engagements in less than 48 hours with no paid media behind the posts. It also triggered and contributed to earned media coverage that totaled more than 2 BILLION impressions. “Die Hard” movie fans won, too. Even though we tricked them, there was no significant blowback on social media. Rather, there was admiration for the ruse and applause for the production, including this from one fan: “Epic commercial!!! I don’t even need a battery… but after watching this, I want to go out and purchase one.”